| | By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Everything is about being big here.
Thompson-Boling Arena? Bigger than Kentucky's Rupp Arena, but way too big with 24,535 seats.
The men's basketball offices? Bigger than any other this reporter has seen on ESPN.com's 17-campus preseason tour.
The three-course lunch at the Tennessee Grill along the Tennessee river? So big that it was unnecessary to eat until the next day.
But the thinking in Knoxville for men's basketball when Jerry Green arrived three years ago? A lot smaller than you think.
|  | | Tennessee guard Harris Walker listens to head coach Jerry Green during practice. |
"I remember when we first got here, two of the players told me their goals were to beat Kentucky and Florida," Green said. "I knew then that we had a lot of work to do. But, so far, everything has turned out good. We're rebuilding it right, but now we've got to maintain it."
What Green and his staff -- Byron Samuels, Chris Ferguson and Eric Pauley -- are attempting to do is build a program, not just a team.
The Volunteers are a national contender every year in football. They're a lock for the same in women's basketball. But it hasn't translated in men's basketball, until this season. Since Green has arrived, the Volunteers have been in the NCAA Tournament every year, reaching the first round in year one, the second in year two and four minutes away from the Elite Eight in year three.
But this is the critical bridge season for the Volunteers to build a tradition in a season when the Volunteers are a legitimate national title contender. Michigan State did it by getting to two Final Fours, winning the second and locking up a top-five recruiting class to carry the program into the next few years. Florida is on the verge of doing the same after reaching the title game and getting a top-five recruiting class.
The problem for the Vols is that in the SEC, and in the region, they haven't been able to sustain their regional, let alone national name.
The Volunteers haven't cracked the rest of the south like Kentucky and Florida. Signing the top players in state has occurred, such as Memphis high school star Tony Harris, now a Volunteer senior guard, and Cleveland (Tenn.) High McDonald's All-American forward Vincent Yarbrough, a junior on this team.
But recruiting in the state got tougher last spring when Memphis hired John Calipari. Getting a player out of Memphis will be nearly impossible if Calipari wants him.
To get Tennessee's name into households around the south, or for that matter in Chicago or Los Angeles, it might take a Final Four appearance or a national title. Anything to get an edge would help the Vols.
"We've got to move to the next level where we can go into another state and have a chance to get their player," Green said during ESPN.com's preseason tour Thursday. "Some teams are national like Kansas and North Carolina. But we're starting to get national by getting on TV. Some people know what we're about and know the color of our uniforms. But we can't just be ranked in the top 25. (A Final Four) would help get respect nationally. But doing it isn't that easy."
The pressure is on the staff to continue to stock the talent pool. Tennessee is in a precarious position this year with the best big man in the state -- Brentwood's David Harrison -- with a family connection to Vanderbilt. The top point guard, Jonathan Hargett, who is originally from Tennessee, has had eligibility issues bouncing to the now defunct Emanuel Christian High in Durham, N.C., to National Christian High in Virginia before reportedly committing to West Virginia. So, the Volunteers had to go to Springfield, Ohio, for a commitment from 6-foot-8 Elgrace Wilborn.
But they've already got a newcomer next year after deciding to redshirt 6-10 freshman Brandon Crump, a lanky, but active center who was a steal out of Klein, Texas.
To Tennessee's credit, it has found the hidden gems of late. Players like 6-10 sophomore Marcus Haislip out of Lewisburg, Tenn., 6-8 sophomore Ron Slay from Nashville, and 6-3 starting sophomore guard Jon Higgins from Shaker Heights, Ohio.
"There's no question that it's going to be tougher with Memphis and you've got to expand your roots," Ferguson said. "Jerry, Byron and myself take a lot of pride in looking under the rocks for guys like Ron, Haislip and Higgins. But in order for us to take it the next level, we've got to get that top 10 recruit outside the state of Tennessee. (The Vols') success this year is crucial for that."
The Volunteers lucked out when Harris and Yarbrough decided against declaring for the draft. Losing both, let alone one, would have been devastating for the Vols' chances for the 2001 title and, possibly, dampening their recruiting efforts for the 2002 class.
"Unfortunately, there hasn't been a McDonald's All-American in the state since Vincent so we've got to go outside the state (for that type of player)," Ferguson said. "We don't have the basketball tradition of Kansas or North Carolina or Duke right now. It might be better to answer the question (of the effect of a potential Final Four) in three or four years while we try to build that tradition."
The players are aware of the ramifications for the program if they can reach the Final Four, even though they don't normally talk about the issue.
Yarbrough said the Volunteers' next step is to land a top-10 player outside the state. Harris said the staff is close to achieving that goal.
"We're trying to build it back to what it was in the '70s with Bernard King and Ernie Grunfeld," Hathaway said. "This program has been women's basketball and football and now it's all three. It was down for a while. Coach (Kevin) O'Neil brought the talent here and coach Green is finishing it off."
The atmosphere has changed on campus, too, where the men's basketball players are actually getting noticed. Slay said he does get spotted, something that didn't happen when he first arrived.
"We are playing not just for this year, but for the tradition to get up there," Slay said. "If we do that then the trend will be reversed."
When Hathaway arrived five years ago, he said the Vols couldn't draw 10,000 in Thompson-Boling consistently. The Vols had over 20,000 for the Florida and Kentucky home games last season.
"Three years ago, nobody cared about us," said Green. "Now they do. We haven't done what the football team or the Lady Vols have done, but basketball is becoming important here, too. It's still not where we want it to be."
But will Green stay to see it through? A few coaches turned down the Vols' job after O'Neil left for Northwestern. Green didn't hesitate, coming back to his native South from Oregon.
"I'm not interested in leaving," said the 57-year old Green. "This is a good job. Why not Tennessee? What prevents us from doing it in basketball? We've got a great campus, a big arena, good players within the state, plus Atlanta is close and we can go into different regions."
Do that and Tennessee has become a program, not just another very good team for a few years.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.
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